Lithuania calls on Russian government to distance itself from Zhirinovsky’s statements

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania expresses its bewilderment at open intimidations by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a member of the Duma of the Russian Federation, directed at the Baltic States and Poland. The Ministry hopes that such intimidations do not reflect the official position of the Russian Federation. Constantly recurring statements of such kind by the above-mentioned Russian politician are provocations that instigate hostility between Russia and its neighbours, and increase tensions in the region. The ministry calls upon the institutions of the Russian Federation to publicly distance themselves and condemn such statements by Zhirinovsky,” the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

During his TV appearance on Tuesday, the controversial Russian politician threatened Poland and the Baltic States with military action and said the countries would be wiped out completely. He also said a decision on starting world war three had already been made.

In response to his statements, Latvia’s and Poland’s Ministries of Foreign Affairs summoned Russian ambassadors. The Lithuanian foreign minister told the Žinių Radijas news radio on Thursday that such statements should be ignored as “some politicians’ place is, let’s say, in a zoo and not in parliament”.

Zhirinovsky is the founder and leader the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and a member of the State Duma’s Security Committee.